World Cup 2Night Returns to ESPN2

NewsMay 16, 2002

NEW YORK (Thursday, May 16, 2002) - ESPN2 will present 26 stand-alone, daily episodes of the World Cup 2Night series - the network's nightly half-hour FIFA Men's World Cup recap show, beginning May 30 through June 29. Airing generally at 11:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. PT), World Cup 2Night will serve as the definitive studio show for highlights, news and features of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea-Japan.

Veteran soccer commentator Rob Stone will host and will be joined by one of Major League Soccer's winningest coaches, David Dir. Stone and Dir will be joined periodically in the studio by select MLS coaches, players and former players who will provide additional analysis. Between matches, ESPN and ESPN2 will also air 15 abbreviated editions of the World Cup 2Night Update studio program.

"On every match day, World Cup 2Night will provide extended, in-depth highlights and analysis from every game as well as insight into the people and places that will create World Cup 2002," said Bill Graff, coordinating producer for ESPN and ABC Sports' FIFA World Cup coverage. "The current series of World Cup 2Night programs, as in 1998, will serve as the definitive FIFA World Cup studio program with on-site reporting from game sites - a one-stop shop for news and information from Japan-Korea."

World Cup 2Night, SportsCenter and ESPNEWS HighlightsIn addition to highlights, ESPN and ESPN2's studio programs will present a series of World Cup '02 features. Highlights include:

Profiles of the projected starters for the U.S. Men's National Team

The growth of U.S. soccer since 1990 (Italy '90) - the nation's first World Cup appearance since 1950 when it shocked the world by beating England 1-0

A look at the young American players - San Jose Earthquakes' Landon Donovan and Chicago Fire's DaMarcus Beasley

A profile of some the world's best players including Zinedine Zidane of France, Portugal's Luis Figo, England's David Beckham, Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata and Italy's Paolo Maldini.